Charlie Coyle

What is with Charlie Coyle? He had 38 points in 23 games in the regular season, and it the playoffs, get ready, 20 in 6? 10 goals and 10 assists. What a player. He uses his size, get ready Minny, him AND Granland next year!

He's also playing against boys in Quebec like St Thomas Academy rolls through southern Minnesota teams. Numbers never lie.

That's a false statement..

He's playing on a defending national champion powerhouse Saint John team that might be the best Q team ever assembled, they won the Q reg season 3 years in a row.... If it weren't for injuries and players leaving for WJC and NHL camps they'd of won 60 games... Seriously.

He's on a loaded team, google their roster if you don't believe. And he plays on a loaded line.

He's coming 4 games against the worst team in the Q playoffs, who have gutted they're line up as they're rebuilding....

Now he's playing a team which is better, in fact much better, and has an offence that is top 5 maybe top 3 in the Q but it's D it weak, compared to most contenders. Which is why Saint John is shreadding them.

You'd have to watch the Sea Dogs to see just how skilled they are.

If he was on a teaming P.E.I he would still be a PPG, but his numbers wouldnt be inflated.

Hell if he was playing in Shawi his playoff, numbers wouldnt be inflated.

Truth is Saint John, are on they own level, they could compete with WJC's team, they wouldn't win against the top 5, but they'd do alot, better then team like Latvia and Denmark do... They will most likely repeat as Q champs and a Mem Cup Champs.

In the NCAA he scored goals in 18% of games played. Nelson and Bjugstad scored in over 60%. BU had a solid puck mover in Clen.. and a solid top line. Now Coyle goes to the Q, the highest scoring junior league. He scores goals at a clip of 1.66 per game in the play offs and 65% in the regular season. Stats never work out but if you did Nelson's scoring in the Q play offs based off of Coyle averages. Nelson would be averaging 4.6 goals per game in the Q play offs.

I really think his value is at its highest right now. If we were to trade Coyle i am fine with that. If he stays i think he will be a solid 2nd line guy.

Sea Dogs fan here. Coyle has obviously been very impressive since coming to Saint John, he really just looks like a man playing against boys out there. To me he looks like he could already a bottom 6 role in the NHL. If I had to guess I'd say Coyle and Phillips will form a hell of a 2nd line for the Wild in the future, they have some serious chemistry. All in all though, it's really tough to get a good read on Sea Dogs players even when you watch them every game because the team is just so dominant that it makes half their team look like superstars.

The playoff stats so far are definitely a bit misleading considering the level of competition Saint John has played so far. The true test will be in the next two rounds and in the Mem. Cup, assuming they make it that far of course.

Sea Dogs fan here. Coyle has obviously been very impressive since coming to Saint John, he really just looks like a man playing against boys out there. To me he looks like he could already a bottom 6 role in the NHL. If I had to guess I'd say Coyle and Phillips will form a hell of a 2nd line for the Wild in the future, they have some serious chemistry. All in all though, it's really tough to get a good read on Sea Dogs players even when you watch them every game because the team is just so dominant that it makes half their team look like superstars.

The playoff stats so far are definitely a bit misleading considering the level of competition Saint John has played so far. The true test will be in the next two rounds and in the Mem. Cup, assuming they make it that far of course.

So what would be expected in those two rounds and the Cup? Should we still anticipate over a ppg? I fully expect their production to go down, but if it goes too far, then we kind of know how inflated they were and then we're back to square one.

So what would be expected in those two rounds and the Cup? Should we still anticipate over a ppg? I fully expect their production to go down, but if it goes too far, then we kind of know how inflated they were and then we're back to square one.

Yeah I think Coyle and Phillips will still average a bit over a point per game in the final two rounds.

BTW re-reading my first post it sounds quite a bit more negative than I intended it to be, I wasn't trying to rain on anybody's parade or anything. 20 points in 6 games is impressive no matter how you slice it. I was mostly just trying to say that it shouldn't be considered a disappointment if Coyle's and Phillips' numbers drop off a bit later in the playoffs once Saint John stops scoring 10 goals a game and that a statistical drop off wouldn't necessarily mean that their play has dropped off.

We've gotten a taste of how Coyle-Zucker looked together in rookie camp, and we've now seen how Zucker has translated that to the NHL. I expect to see both Zucker and Coyle in Houston (and obviously Phillips will be down there as well) next year. They'll have to work their way up into the lineup. They're not going to be handed anything or forced into any role. They will be hand-held through their development process.

An important thing to remember about Coyle's college career is the circumstances around it. BU was an absolute zoo this year. Take a 19 year old, throw him in college, surrounded by his team (who obviously aren't exactly straight and narrow considering what happened) and it's no surprise Coyle wasn't able to focus on hockey. He went to Saint John to get away from the distractions, be they social, legal, or scholastic. Since leaving all that behind, he's been tearing through the CHL like some kind of monster.

I know many of us have already been through college. Think about those first two years with a normal student's schedule, then add in the stress of your NHL team's eye over your shoulder. Being traded as part of a blockbuster package. Legal issues for your friends and teammates. All you want to do is just play hockey. It should be no surprise how he's lighting up the Q.

Also, as others have mentioned, while Phillips and Coyle have been putting up gaudy numbers, what has the higher draft pick on their team been doing? 1.5 PPG for Huberdeau, whom some have tried to rank above Granlund, but 3.33 PPG for Coyle and 3.5 PPG for Phillips.

In the NCAA he scored goals in 18% of games played. Nelson and Bjugstad scored in over 60%. BU had a solid puck mover in Clen.. and a solid top line. Now Coyle goes to the Q, the highest scoring junior league. He scores goals at a clip of 1.66 per game in the play offs and 65% in the regular season. Stats never work out but if you did Nelson's scoring in the Q play offs based off of Coyle averages. Nelson would be averaging 4.6 goals per game in the Q play offs.

I really think his value is at its highest right now. If we were to trade Coyle i am fine with that. If he stays i think he will be a solid 2nd line guy.

Coyle's game is coveted in the Q, because it's mostly finesse fowards, snipers and playmakers along two way guys and grinders.

There arent many guys who physically dominate the Q, and actually someone posted statistics, and I think the Q was 3rd in average goals per game....

Next year you'll see guys like Anthony Duclair and Adam Erne rip the Q to shreds because they're both powerfowards. I think Brandon Shea was also seen as one but I may be wrong.

Few teams have guys tough enough to stop him, the Q is the most finesse of the junior leagues, ideally he would of went to the Dub, where the physicality is much better. But Saint John are just amazing.

Also remeber he's 19, and playing on a veteran team who's core has played together for 3 or even 4 years which is alot in junior hockey, and he's on a power house. The Seadogs are old by junior standards. Id be worried if he wasn't dominating.

Skill wise he's in a better league, physically, meh there's only 5 or 6 teams that have the conditioning level to shutdown Coyle.

And one of them is out....

The Sea Dogs dominate on pure skill..... Coyles doing it with both skill and his body... You don't see that much in Quebec. You'd have to watch it to understand.

Quebec hockey is more like Russian hockey, except we're better.... (biased) but we think score and not nail...

He may need time in Houson to adjust to the pro game, and to the fact that he's not gunna be able to dominate pros like he did the Q.

One thing I see Coyle got goign for him is his size and strength. That's something most prospects coming up must concentrate on but Coyle is a big guy already (of course he has to bulk up more but still) so I can see his transition to AHL and later NHL will be easier. And yes, I want him obviously to start in the AHL with Phillips.

I have high hopes that Coyle will develop into a 50-70 p guy.. I guess next year at Houston will show us some signs on what to expect.

I disagree.

Coyle's niche is a combination of size, strength, skating and hockey sense. That works great as a veteran playing the QMJHL.

Once he reaches the pro level, its a great combination, but I don't think his offensive skills are high enough to produce 70 points. I think alot of his game will not show up on the stats; a type of guy you appreciate as he cycles the puck, keeps the offense going and protects the puck, but not in goals or assists like Mikko Koivu (not saying he's a comparable but just the idea).

I project his upside as a regular 50pt 2nd line center who leads the team in forward PK time and takeways. Just my opinion.

I think his offensive production could be that of Mikko, who's not that great offensively. Mikko could be a 70 point center and Coyle could be a 70 point center. I really don't see much difference between them.

Coyle's niche is a combination of size, strength, skating and hockey sense. That works great as a veteran playing the QMJHL.

Once he reaches the pro level, its a great combination, but I don't think his offensive skills are high enough to produce 70 points. I think alot of his game will not show up on the stats; a type of guy you appreciate as he cycles the puck, keeps the offense going and protects the puck, but not in goals or assists like Mikko Koivu (not saying he's a comparable but just the idea).

I project his upside as a regular 50pt 2nd line center who leads the team in forward PK time and takeways. Just my opinion.

I could very well be wrong. Please, prove me wrong Coyle!

I think it depends on what position he ultimately settles in at. Your prediction as a 2nd line center seems pretty likely, although I could see a couple trips up into the 60 point range. But what if he ends up on Koivu's RW? Depending on who is on the left side (Heatley or Granlund), would it be too far off to see him as a consistent 30-30 guy?

I'd like to see more video of him but I haven't seen him be enough of a quick shooter to score 30+ in the NHL. Mikko's got a better shot and he barely scratches 20 most of the time. I think he'd be a lot like Mikko, or a poor man's Thornton, both of which are 20g and 40-50a.

I think it depends on what position he ultimately settles in at. Your prediction as a 2nd line center seems pretty likely, although I could see a couple trips up into the 60 point range. But what if he ends up on Koivu's RW? Depending on who is on the left side (Heatley or Granlund), would it be too far off to see him as a consistent 30-30 guy?

Assuming all those players turn out as well as we hope. I think Coyle could easily top 60 points, and maybe even reach PPG (in a career year) in that role. Of course, that would require us to win the draft lottery tonight...